PROCESSIONAL "A TREE RISES"

PROCESSIONAL "A TREE RISES"

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Scoring & Instrumentation
Zheng and Sustaining Instrument
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Year Authored (or revised)
Duration (min)
6
Movements

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Audio

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Description

Composer's Note:

Processional: “A Tree Rises” is a brief work for the zheng (21-string Chinese zither) and a sustaining instrument (see below). Its mood is grave and austere. Designed to slowly “bloom” through an increasingly large and rich palette of pitches, it creates a progression of harmonic fields in an ever-growing registral space. The zheng provides the “bones” of the piece, while the sustaining instrument connects the music from one harmonic region to another with common tones. The zheng tuning is non-traditional, but is based on the pentatonic content of its lowest octave, which is then used to generate the pentachords in each successively higher register, simultaneously adjusted to reflect overtone relations off the low D.

While developed from a rather abstract structure outside of real time, a sort of “sonic architecture”, I hope the music also projects a certain “naturalness” of sound, rather like the image of the subtitle. If it also evokes a sense of the archaic and ritual, then it's done its job.

This piece dedicated with gratitude to Chen Yi, whose request brought this piece into being.

Comments

Notes on instrumentation from the composer:

The sustaining instrument should ideally be an Asian woodwind. Of these, the following are suggested: Dizi (Chinese) Shakuhachi (Japanese) Piri (Korean).

Western instruments are also allowed. Those I feel are most suitable are: Alto Flute English Horn Viola Any instrument must play the notes as written in its part, but it is permitted to make registral changes due to range, so long as it conforms as closely as possible to the melodic contour of the original.

Finally, the zheng part may also be arranged for 21-string Japanese koto.

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New 2023 edition.

First Perfomance

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Recording

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Text Language - Non English

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Text Source/Author

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Title Number
Ensemble Type
duo inst or voices
nonwestern instrument(s)
Open inst, variable options, or undefined
Genre/Theme
Non-western themes or influence
Instrument

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Purchase Options
PDF License & Download
PDF Price
Print & Ship
$13.00 score + 2 parts
Includes parts for sustaining instrument in both C and B-flat.
ACA-CARL-034